The Underground - Director's Cut
by elanev91
Summary: Drabble collection from "The Underground" universe. So named because I'm the worst.
1. From Ch7: James and Dave, Brussels

**Hello friends!** **Long time, no see!**

 **Here, we have the first drabble that I wrote while writing The Underground. This piece comes f** **rom Chapter 7 and reveals what James and Dave talked about in that Brussels hotel carpark. I hope that you enjoy xx**

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They watched Lily walk into the hotel and when she cleared the threshold, James turned to Dave and smiled, "She's stubborn, our Evans."

Dave laughed, "That she is. Gets it from her mother."

James grinned, "I always tease her that it's the hair."

Dave laughed, louder this time, "Oh, I bet she loves that."

James chuckled, stuffed a hand in his hair, "It's not her favourite thing."

Dave looked at James quietly for a moment, studying him - James shifted his weight nervously between his feet, but held Dave's gaze. After a long moment, Dave smiled, nodded, stepped forward and patted James on the back, "You're a good kid, James."

James flushed and his hand jumped to his hair again, "Thanks, Dave."

"I'm serious," Dave said, and James smiled involuntarily, thinking of Sirius, "I'm… I'm really glad she's got you. The way you calmed her down from that temper tonight?" Dave whistled, shook his head with a laugh, "We've known her her whole life and we've never been able to do that. Once you get her going…"

James laughed, "She's unstoppable."

Dave smiled softly at James, "But you get her. And…" Dave paused, shifted his weight a bit, took a deep breath, "Look, James, I'm not one for big speeches. Poor Suz knows that well enough," Dave chuckled and James smiled, breathed a laugh.

"Anyway," Dave continued, "I want you to know that I'm, uh… I can tell how much you love her… and how much she loves you. And you make her… uh… the way she looks at you?" Dave was quiet for a moment, but James waited, figured he wasn't finished. Dave looked up, nodded, "You're doing something right. And I'm glad she's got you."

James beamed, "Thanks, Dave. I'm so," he laughed, "You've got no idea how happy I am to have her. She's… she's _everything_." Dave clapped James on the back, smiled wider than James had seen him smile yet, and James felt a sudden need to share.

"Hey," James said, grinning almost uncontrollably now, "want to see something cool?" Dave raised an eyebrow and James just laughed, "Let's go under that streetlamp, I'll show you."

They walked (James practically ran) over to the streetlamp on the other side of the carpark. James was bouncing on the balls of his feet, his hands in his trouser pockets, as Dave covered the last few metres. Dave laughed, "Alright, son, what is it?"

"I've, uh…" James' voice was shaking, one of his hands jumped out of his pocket, buried itself in his hair, "I've been carrying this around for about a month now and I uh… well, Lily doesn't know yet, obviously, but I figured you should know just how serious I am while we're talking about it."

James pulled the small velvet box out of his pocket, his hand shaking all the time, and Dave sucked in a breath. Dave looked up, met James' eyes, and broke into a broad smile. "Congratulations, son."

James breathed out something like a laugh, "She hasn't said yes yet."

Dave smiled softly at him, blinked back the tears that had formed in the corners of his eyes, "She will."

James laughed, and it was loud and a bit manic and so, so happy, and Dave couldn't help but laugh with him.

"Oi, Dad!"

They looked up and James hastily stuffed his hands back into his pockets, buried the box at the bottom underneath his mobile. Dave chuckled, "We're being summoned."

They started the walk back across the carpark and Dave turned to him, "Really... congratulations, son."

James beamed, "Thanks, Dave."


	2. From Ch11: James in the Doorway

**From Chapter 11: James standing in the doorway watching Lily work**

 **Because I always imagine that James is the sappiest sap that ever sapped. xx**

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 _She's so fucking beautiful._

James is standing in the doorway of their bedroom, looking at Lily sitting on their bed, surrounded by stacks and stacks of files. He's only a few metres away from her, but he'd moved quietly up the corridor and she doesn't know that he's standing there yet.

Lily had brought home another huge bag of files, and James knew that he was going to spend another evening on the couch while she worked. He could have been bitter, could have complained about how he never sees her, but he isn't annoyed, couldn't be. She loves her work, is so fucking brilliant at it, and the way that her eyes light up when she talks about it… he could never, ever begrudge her doing something that makes her this happy.

Her happiness is all he wants, all he wants in the entire world.

She's been bringing home bigger and bigger bags of files lately, working later and later into the night, and he knows she's exhausted, but nothing, _nothing_ seems to slow her down, and he is so in awe of her. He tells her this sometimes, late at night when she wanders in from her office half-asleep, over tea in the morning when she clutches her mug like it's her only lifeline, whispers it in her ear on the Tube when she closes her eyes to get just a _moment_ of rest, and she always laughs it off, kisses his cheek, but he means it. He's in awe of her and he loves her more than he ever thought it was possible to love another person, a feat considering James Potter has always been a person with a huge, full heart. He never would have thought, loving Mum, Sirius, Remus, and then Marlene as he did that he would be able to love someone _even more_ and yet - there she was to defy all expectations.

And now he's standing here looking at her and _she's so fucking beautiful,_ and he has no idea, literally no idea, how he's lucky enough to have her in his life, to get to know and love someone this fucking amazing. Her reading glasses, the large, round, tortoise shell frames, are halfway down her nose, casting a shadow over the light smattering of freckles blooming on her cheeks, and he feels his heart stutter in his chest as it always does whenever he looks at her.

He almost does it right then, almost pulls the ring out of his pocket and gets down on one knee right there, but he's got a plan and he doesn't want to ruin it. He's been carrying this ring for months anyway, bought it as soon as he got back from Brussels last November, and it's been living in his pocket ever since. He'd had Marlene help him pick it out, had practically had to drag her into the jeweller ("James, holy shit, this is the poshest place I've ever fucking been, I CAN'T GO IN THERE!"), but when they left that day, they were both in tears, and, a few days later, he had a black velvet box in his pocket.

And standing here now, looking at her like this, he's turning the box around and around in his pocket and he really wants to just ask her already, to tell her that he loves her, that she's brilliant and strong and so beautiful, and he would be the happiest man on earth if she agreed to put up with him for the rest of their lives. But he hasn't worked out the wording yet and he's quite keen to go through with his current plan… Sirius had laughed when James told him what he was thinking, but James knew she'd like it.

She notices him standing there and she looks up, pushes her glasses up into her fiery hair and smiles at him. Her glasses pushed her curls up and away from her face, and he can see the freckles on the bridge of her nose, the thoughtful creases in her forehead, the dark purple patches under her eyes that now have small wrinkles at the corners, and he knows she'd never believe him, but she is so fucking beautiful and he cannot believe how much he loves her.

They decide on dinner, and he's looking forward to sitting with her on the terrace, watching her drink soup out of a bowl like she's never seen food before, and he almost chuckles out loud just thinking about it. She slides her glasses back down her nose, picks up the file she'd been reading - her forehead creases again, she starts mumbling the words on the sheet she's reading, her right hand flying over a notepad beside her as she takes notes. She thought he would just turn around and leave, he _did_ say that he was going to go boil some eggs for dinner, but he can't stop looking at her when she's like this.

He is so, so in awe of her and she is so fucking beautiful and it takes everything he has not to propose to her right then and there. But he has a plan and he wants to be able to show her, show the world, that he loves her more than it should be physically possible to love someone, and he knows that he's going to wait.

He walks out of their room, still turning the velvet box around in his pocket.

 _I'll do it tomorrow._


	3. Five Years After Ch11

**Hello friends - back with another outtake. This here scene takes place five y** **ears after Chapter 11, 17 years before the Epilogue, and I bet you know, already, exactly what this scene is going to be. Oh, it's going to get a bit weird btw xx**

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"LILY, I CAN'T LEAVE YOU ALONE IN HERE!"

They were standing in the bathroom, still in their pyjamas (it's noon, but it's a Saturday, so who cares) - James' hand was in his hair again, Lily had a box in her hand, and they both kept flicking their gaze between it and one another. Lily looked up at him, felt herself softening a bit at the stupid hand in his hair, the way he was pressing his lips together to contain a smile. She shot him a look, hoped he bought it, "James, I'm peeing on a fucking stick, you don't need to - "

"This is a huge moment," he said, and she could tell that he was practically boiling with excitement, didn't want to betray it in case this wasn't actually what they thought it was, "I want to be here with you."

He took her hand, buried his other hand in the hair at the base of her neck, smiled that winning smile at her. She sighed, shook her head, amused, "Fine. You can come in _after_ I pee on the stupid thing."

James grinned, pulled his hand from her hair, "Deal," spun on his heel and strode out of the bathroom.

She chuckled to herself, rolled her eyes, "Fucking idiot."

Still, it was annoyingly sweet. In a really bizarre way, of course, but that was James (and fuck if she didn't love him for it). She pulled the test out of the box, her hands trembling as she set the packet with the test onto the back of the toilet next to her mobile. She opened up the instructions, sure she was intelligent enough to figure out how to use the stupid thing without them, but unwilling to risk it. She'd bought the test months ago, had kept it in the back of a drawer in their bathroom vanity... the damn thing was the most expensive test at Boots, and she wasn't trying to waste it. _Fourteen fucking quid for a stupid stick. For fucks sake._

She skimmed over the instructions, memorised the main steps so she didn't have to look at the paper again while she was trying to actually use the stupid thing. _Absorbent tip… ugh, absorbent is such a gross word… focus Potter… okay, 10 seconds… put cap back on… alright, easy enough._

She dropped the instructions onto the floor, pulled the cap off the test and set it on the back of the toilet, crossing her fingers that the damn thing wouldn't jump ship and get lost. She tugged her pyjama bottoms down, and sat down, took a deep breath. _I can do this. Just peeing on a stupid stick. Not even remotely difficult._

It wasn't difficult, not even a little bit, but she was still nervous. They'd been trying to get pregnant for a little over a year now, and though she knew that it sometimes took a little while for your body to figure it out, knew that she was a little older than was 'ideal' ( _ugh_ ), and that it would probably take a little longer for them, the longer they went without getting pregnant (a miracle in itself, honestly, given that they were basically randy teenagers all the damn time), the more nervous she got that it wouldn't ever take.

She'd never considered herself to be the type of person that would want to have a baby this desperately, but she'd turned 32 last year, something had kicked in, and damn it all to hell, she wanted a baby with his stupid hair and his loud laugh and his annoyingly charming attitude. Her career had always come first, but her life had expanded before - she'd always made room for Marlene, had made room for James, Sirius, Remus - she'd found a way to balance it, and yeah, the _have it all_ narrative was a bit much, a bit overdone, but fuck it all, she didn't care. Her life would expand. They'd make sacrifices. They'd do it together.

She sighed, "James?"

He was back at the door instantly, and she was sure he was just pacing around, waiting for her to call him back. She wanted to roll her eyes at him, but she lost the will to sass him when he smiled warmly at her, "Yes, love?"

She cleared her throat, "Can you just - "

He didn't even wait for her to finish, just walked in, perched on the end of the tub. She took a deep breath and James reached out, took her hand, "It's alright, Evans," he rubbed his thumb along the back of her knuckles. She nodded, "I know. It's just that we've just been trying and this has been taking for fucking ever and what if - "

James shook his head, "Then we figure it out. But there's no sense getting all worked up about something that hasn't even happened yet," he brushed her hair back behind her ear, smiled, "Yeah?"

She closed her eyes for a moment, sighed, "Yeah."

His expression softened and he was quiet for a moment, just looking at her, "I love you, Evans."

She breathed a laugh, "I know, you tell me multiple times a day."

James smiled tenderly at her, "But you still need to hear it. Now," his lifted his tone, smiled cheekily at her, let go of her hand, "pee on that bloody stick already so we can find out if we're going to have another baby."

Lily laughed, "Another baby?"

James shrugged, "Sirius."

Lily nodded, "Oh yeah, true. Though, he's mostly Remus' responsibility now, isn't he?"

James grinned, "Mostly being the operative word there, Evans." She snorted.

She made James avert his eyes ("I've seen you do this a million times, Evans, do you not remember how many times you've barged into the bathroom while I'm in here trying to get ready in the morning?" "This is different, James, just shut up and do it!"), peed on the damn stick ("Why the fuck is this so hard?! I HAVE A PHD AND I CAN'T PEE ON A STICK!"), and they set it on the back of the toilet to wait the two minutes before they could read the stupid thing.

Lily grabbed her mobile off the back of the toilet, sat on the lip of the tub next to James as soon as she got her trousers up. He dropped an arm over her shoulder, kissed the side of her head, and leaned over to pick up the instructions that Lily had tossed onto the floor, "So we're looking for - "

"This is one of those fancy ones that actually has words on it," Lily said, setting a timer on her mobile, "I didn't think we'd want to sit here and fight about the number of lines on the stupid thing."

"Ah," James smiled at her, "brilliant as always."

She laughed, "I'm glad we still agree on my brilliance, Potter."

James grinned, kissed the side of her head again, "Of course we do, Evans."

She sighed, looked over at the stick on the back of the toilet again, and James squeezed her hand, "So, when do you think Marls and Dorcas are going to get married?"

Lily rested her head on his shoulder, thankful for the distraction, "I'm surprised they aren't already, to be honest," she said, laughing a bit, "I give it another six months _max_ before they're engaged."

"Maybe they're waiting for all of us to forget the fucking extravaganza that was Sirius and Remus' wedding," James said, laughing, "I could see not wanting to follow that up. I'm glad we went first, we could never have competed with that."

Lily clicked her tongue, sat up and turned to him with a look of mock-offence on her face, "Excuse me, our wedding was - " her mobile started ringing in her hand and Lily went stiff again, shut it off.

James raised his eyebrows at her, "Do you want to look or should I?"

Lily took a deep breath, "Can you? I'm not - "

He nodded, stretched his stupidly long arm over and grabbed the stick off the back of the toilet. His hands were trembling a bit, she noticed, and she took another deep breath, closed her eyes.

He exhaled hard, " _Lily_."

Her eyes snapped open, he was beaming at her, absolutely fucking beaming at her, and she didn't even need to see the stick, she just threw her arms around his neck, bouncing on the edge of the tub she was so damn happy she couldn't quite contain herself. He wrapped his arms around her, pressed her to him and buried his face in her hair, whispering under his breath, "Oh my god, oh my god, oh my god," and she laughed breathlessly, ran her fingers through his hair, "I know, I know, I know."

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 **Two things -**

 **1\. If you're on tumblr, come be my tumblr friend**

 **2\. I have a few other things planned for the outtakes, but if you have anything that you reallyyyyy want to see, let me know and I'll do my best to write it for you (I've got other things to write, but if you suggest it, you'll get it eventually. I can't say no to these two).**

 **Alright, that's it. Cheers all xx**


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